A good solid rom-com where both the characters grow which makes it an interesting read. I picked this book as it was a part of series another author that I follow has contributed to ("Sweater weather").

The book was worth a read - it held my attention. I hadn't read a lot of this author previously - I'd definitely give her a read in future. I liked the character growth of both the male and female characters - as well as the overall message of the story.

I receive complimentary books for various sources including, Netgalley, Authors, and other such sources. I am not required to write a positive review and have not received compensation.

A firefighter quite literally sweeping the girl next door off her feet? Yes please.

When Owen Larrabee moved back into town after walking away without a word 8 years earlier…. Emmys life quite literally burns up in flames.

They’re able to reconnect and get back on their feet after the day that broke their friendship so many years before…

Only to find out that maybe there are some mutual feelings there 👀

This was such a cute read & im loving this series and being in harvest hollow!

This book was just too cute. I loved all the characters and the storyline.

This story follows bookstore/cafe owner Emaline Smart, Emmy for short, and firefighter Owen Larrabee.

Emmy isn’t too keen when Owen returns to Harvest Hollow eight years after she confessed her love to him on his wedding day, where she wasn’t the bride, especially not when she realised that her feelings are still there and she doesn’t know if his feelings have changed since he left her so suddenly all the those years ago.

So when Emmy’s house catches fire and none other than Owen himself goes into the house to save her, she is a bit shocked, to say these least.

Not only is Owen back in her life, he’s also her best friends older brother, meaning he is off limits, or is he?

Emmy tries to fight her growing feelings for Owen as their thrown together since he saved her from her burning house, while also running a secret podcast, The Hopeless Romantic, that no one in her life knows she runs, where she gives out advice to her fans based on the hundreds, or thousands, of romance books that she’s read.

I just can’t get over how cute this book was, I loved how Emmy saw through the griff exterior that Owen showed everybody and absolutely refused to give up on him not matter what anyone else thought.

Also, the Appies from Just Don’t Fall also make an appearance in this book, which I really enjoyed.

Genre: Romance
Language: None
Romance: Kisses
Violence: None
Trigger Warnings: The FMC has a panic attack once.

Read if you like:
🍁 Dual POV
🍁 Disability Rep (Dyslexia)
🍁Opposites attract
🍁Grumpy sunshine
🍁Best Friend’s Brother
🍁Small Town romance
🍁FMC is a book lover
🍁She falls first
🍁Romantic and thoughtful gestures from the MMC

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Sweethaven Press. I'm voluntarily leaving this review.

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Sweet Romance
Tropes: Second chance, Best Friend's Brother, Grumpy—Sunshine

I'm loving Courtney Walsh's books.

I immediately identify with the characters and love to see how the relationship develops.

In this one, we've got Emmy and Owen who were secretly friends in high school. But they both blew up their relationship on the day Owen was supposed to get married.

They're both single. And Owen is back—as a fireman. And the sparks fly from there.

I loved these characters and the depth of their hurt. I also like seeing more characters with challenges like dyslexia. This is such a warm and cozy read. It was fun to watch as they come to understand themselves better and get past all the nonsense of other people's opinions.

This is a definite recommend!

Happy reading!

PS: I love the grumpy men who come to her reading café and play chess. They're delightful.

This is a sweet, fun story full of the Autumn vibes :)
Emmy & Owen have a sweet build up to friendship and romance. I love a good best friends brother story, especially childhood crushes rendering years later, and these two are so cute right from the start. I love how Emmy & Owen come out of their shell, finding ways to heal from past hurts and be happy in the life they now have together. I also love the relationship Emmy has with her friend Mackenzie, and how fun she is in watching her bff and brother get together.
Just a great, fun, fall romance. Thanks for the ARC!!!

Can’t Help Falling by Courtney Walsh is an outstanding read that held my attention from beginning to end. Truly, this book made me laugh out loud with Walsh’s quick witted prose and memorable characters. Set in small town Harvest Hollow, Emmy and Owen not only rediscover love, but fill the pages with a beautiful story that warmed me from head to toe.

I am a huge Walsh fan, but I think this book ranks as one of my favorites. Cute, sweet, comedic, and heartwarming, I cannot find a flaw within its pages. I’d rather read this book than watch a Hallmark movie any day!!

I received a complimentary copy this book from the publishers. I was not required to provide a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

This is a swoon-worthy romance with a twist and it's book 3 in the Sweater Weather series. It is a second chance romance following Emily and Owen. Can't help Falling is ideal for those that enjoy second chance romance / best friend's brother romance but clean. I loved the fact that she has a crush on her friend's brother and also that she hosts a romance podcast . I found the book witty and I would recommend one reads the books in sequence.

Very much enjoyed this cute and cozy rom-com!

Firemen ✔️
BFF's older brother ✔️
Protective old men ✔️
Bookshop ✔️
Twix ✔️

Always appreciate Courtney's ability to write clean yet chemistry packed romances. Swoony and sweet!

This book ticked off a lot of boxes for me…small town romance, bookish but sweet heroine, best friend’s brother, hero thinks he doesn’t deserve the girl. Let’s just say I loved it all. The only thing I wasn’t too crazy about it was that it was a little too slow burn for my tastes. Overall though, it was a very sweet book that should have readers feeling all warm and cozy.

Thanks as always to NetGalley for the ARC.

This book had a great premise and likeable characters but for some reason I couldn't get into it. This is definitely *my* type of book but I just thought it was okay. It could definitely be a case of "me not you". Its got a ton of fantastic reviews so if it sounds interesting to you please check it out.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Sweethaven Press through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you, Sweethaven Press.

He's the town's past bad boy and she was his secret friend who helped him get through high school. He's back in town just in time to do something heroic and put him right back in her path bringing up all the unresolved feelings she has. Both are harboring secrets, but will their secrets help or hurt them? A wonderful story of best friend's older brother, secret friends, second chances and friends to lovers all wrapped together in a sweet romance that will have you swooning in delight and giggling too! Witty banter keeps things hopping with fantastic unique characters to add flavor to the story. For all my Hallmark movie loving book friends, this book will fit your reading habit delightfully! This book is a part of a series called Sweater Weather with each book being written by a different author adding a depth to the town and community that you don't always see, but also keeping each book somewhat separate. While you wouldn't need to read the books in order as far as I can tell at this point, I am finding that the primary locations of each book help build the town out more so that the next book fits in like the perfect puzzle piece. I'm off to see if I can nab the next book in the series as I don't want my time in Harvest Hollow to end just yet!

When Emmy confesses her love to Owen Larrabee on his wedding day, their friendship takes a turn for the worse. So, when he returns to Harvest Hollow after being jilted, he is sworn off relationships and Emmy is not sure where their friendship is at.
Emmy has no experience in romance, basing all her ideas for a podcast on the romance novels she reads as the owner of a bookshop. When Owen, now a firefighter, saves her life, it seems that they might have the beginnings of a relationship.
Overall, this ‘opposites attract’ relationship between two endearing characters, made for a great small-town romance. I enjoyed the dual POV, making these two characters very relatable. A funny and heartwarming romance.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Emma is a shy bookstore owner in her late 20s. Although she doesn't have much experience in dating and relationships, she's gotten enough knowledge from all the romance novels she's read throughout her life. Which is why she launched her podcast The Hopeful Romantic where she gives relationship advice to her listeners. One evening during the recording in the basement she starts to smell something and it turns out that her house is on fire! And the firefighter who saves her is her childhood crush who disappeared for years after she confessed her feelings.
As the cover suggests, it gave very cozy fall vibes with a touch of serious topics such as PTSD and learning disabilities.
It was very well written, it had a right amount of everything. It was definitely a slow burn, which is why I would just love one more chapter after they finally got together.
Such a great read!

Loved it. I just think the idea behind this story is so refreshingly simple, and it's there to be just enough to give a perhaps otherwise more ordinaryromance story a twist. That said however, there is nothing ordinary about this author's writing. She is capable to making you fall in love with her characters, to feel for them and to truly experience the journey of their romance along with them.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I liked the main characters: hopeless romantic bookshop-owner Emmy and her childhood crush hot firefighter Owen. When they meet again (in a very dramatic fashion) after years without contact there is attraction but both think the other one just wants to be friends. I loved the small-town setting and the entertaining supporting characters.
A perfect book to enjoy in the fall with a cinnamon spiced latte.

DNF @ 30%. Owen is worried about Emmy leaving the bookstore prior to being interviewed but the next chapter starts with "the interview aired last night." The first third of the book was overly quippy and referenced a lot of variety in regards to characters from romance novels. This book just didn't hit for me. The internal angst was too much. Emmy clearly still loved Owen but we have no reason to believe for one second in the first 30% of the book that Owen has any feelings whatsoever for Emmy. There is no pining or tension. Just a lot of internal pining (from Emmy) and older brother concern (from Owen).

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. These are my honest thoughts.

This book...I gobbled this thing up in pretty much one sitting.

The FMC Emmy is so quirky and I love it. She's obsessed with reading and romance, has a podcast giving relationship advice (even though she really hasn't had many of her own) and focuses on holding out for that special person that brings the romance. Throughout the book she's constantly talking about events that are happening and comparing them to book scenes or comparing people to characters in her books. It made the story really fun.

I love that there were so many romance cliches/tropes in here and things happen to her that would happen in a typical romance novel (hot firefighter carries her out of her house, crush comes back to hometown, etc) I loved how they were all incorporated and made the story even more fun.

The MMC Owen is yummy. He's misunderstood (by everyone except Emmy, of course), he's trying to prove he's a better person than he was in HS, got left at the alter... he's pretty practical and cynical when it comes to love. He's the yummy firefighter that happens to pull Emmy out of her house his first day back in town.

They start to rebuild their friendship and of course they get thrown into all sorts of situations because he's the hero of the town and Emmy's the beloved bookstore owner. They learn from each other and it was just...super sweet.

Tropes:
Hot firefighter past BFF/crush
Returning home
Small town
Friends to lovers

No spice, no third act break up

I loved this book. It was set in fall at a book store in a small town. As if that weren't enough, it was full of romance and humor and book references. It was such a sweet, enjoyable read and I'm looking forward to more by this author.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Sweethaven Press for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I truly can’t get enough of this series. It is so cute to have a whole series dedicated to the fall season and falling in love in Harvest Hallow. Seeing Emmy’s story as the romance obsessed bookstore owner and the infamous The Hopeless Romantic fall for someone who doesn’t believe in romance was such a beautiful story. The underlying message of love languages was exceptional as they both navigate practical vs romance. The representation for dyslexia and the feelings and actions of being misunderstood or misrepresented as a result tied in so beautifully with this love story. This series is an absolute gem and I am craving a Starbucks holiday blend right now as I blow out my fall candles and impatiently wait the next book!

I received an advanced review copy of this book and offer my honest opinion voluntarily.

Goodreads, 21/09/23.
2.5 stars.
A sweet romance between a self-proclaimed dorky heroine and a misunderstood hero, “Can’t Help Falling”, by Courtney Walsh (Sweethaven Press), takes place in the small town of Harvest Hollow.
The return of the prodigal son, now hailed as a hero, brings Owen some redemption and pacifies the demons of the past, with the help of Emmy’s gentleness.
I usually like a moody, broken, brooding hero, like we’re so often told Owen is. The special relation with the nerdy, smart heroine is endearing.
The small town atmosphere with its quirky characters, meddling and general public knowledge of private matters was interesting.
Emmy’s love for romance novels, fictional heroes, tropes, and her secret project are strong characteristics of the female lead that are constantly depicted and exploited.
The same happens with her thoughts and considerations about love and relationships, all of which take a considerable amount of the story.
Along with the copious citations and allusions, all this slowed down the reading process in many places.
Talking about and dissecting feelings, emotions, relationships, people, isn’t really my kind of thing especially when so insistently.
I felt the book could be condensed and still be interesting.